Wednesday, April 8, 2015

My Dil ki Deal!

A mother-in-law can be a great friend. Doing something for
her can be so gratifying, I realised only after I did it for the first time.

A few months after my wedding, she came to stay with us for
a few months. There were multiple layers of formalities and hesitation between
me and her. She was quite affectionate and loving and we had a cordial
relation, but still, there was an invisible wall between us, thin though. We
were not very expressive with each other. Something was there, unwanted, which
had to be removed.

From all that I had come to know of her from my husband, she
had had a very sacrificing life, drudging for the family, side-lining her
wishes and desires. And as any woman would have, she had a secret wish to wear
a diamond. But given the financial constraints and responsibilities, she could
never have one. Decades of struggle and penury had killed her dreams. Her life
revolved around her children and their wellbeing.

At times, she would say that all her friends have so much
abundance, I could never have anything. But never did she look sad. She seemed
eternally content. Looking at her, I would always feel that mothers are indeed divine
beings.

I started working after a month of my wedding. I decided I
will give her a present from my first salary. A surprise. A diamond!

My salary arrived. I had never been to a jewelry store.
Let alone buy a diamond.

My husband and I gathered all information we could and fixed
a date and went to the store. We both felt like little kids walking into an
adult-goods store.

We finally selected a pair of earrings. A bit higher than
our budget. And made the purchase.

Maa was away on a trip and there was still a week left for her
to return. I was way too excited to surprise her.

I would keep imagining the situation all the time. …”I will
place the gift in her cupboard with a note, before I go to office, and then let
her find out for herself….. “No, I will give it to her myself, and see her
expressions when she opens it…” I was waiting for her. And was praying that she
likes it.

We went to the railway station to pick her up. We reached home and by no means could I hold the
excitement.

I asked her to close her eyes. Confused, she did. I stood
before her with the gift box in my hand.

My heart was beating fast. Waiting to see her reaction.

She opened her eyes, and was amused! She took the present, but
kept on asking what was inside. I asked her to open it. She did, and perhaps my
eyes said something that she understood. She was overwhelmed with emotions.

I said, “Maa, these are the first diamonds of your life.
Many more to come”.

She looked at the diamonds, and I saw tiny little diamonds
at the corner of her eyes. May be, the memories of the good old days, when my
late father-in-law would have promised her diamonds, came fresh.
She hugged me tight and said, “I had always longed for a daughter, and I have
got one now. I have the most precious jewel now, which is you. More than these
diamonds, the feelings and thoughts you have for me, is just priceless. No one has ever made me feel so special. I wish your father-in-law was amongst us
today, he would have been so proud of you.”

And I saw us shedding a few drops of love and joy from our eyes.
And that was the moment we ceased being a mom-in-law and daughter-in-law pair.
We were just mom and daughter.

And also, that same moment, that invisible wall of
hesitation and formality just disappeared.

Now, I share almost everything with her, and she does the
same. This was my dil ki deal. And what followed was indeed magical.